‘Centre should form pilgrimage fair development body’
2 min readPatna: BJP MP from Buxar Ashwini Kumar Choubey said on Sunday the Centre should constitute a pilgrimage fair development authority (PFDA) for efficient management of monthlong ‘Shrawani fair’ in Bihar and Jharkhand and other such fairs which attract people from across the world.
Choubey said during the ‘Shrawani fair’, devotees from several countries visit Sultanganj in Bhagalpur district to take water from the Ganga near Ajgaibinath temple and carry it to Babadham temple at Deoghar in Jharkhand to offer to Lord Shiva. Sultanganj, Babadham and Basukinath constitute an important pilgrimage circuit, Choubey added.
He said apart from lakhs of local pilgrims, devotees make pilgrimage to Ajgaibinath, Babadham and Basukinath temples from Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Trinidad, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Fiji and West Indies, among others.
Given the backdrop, PFDA is earnestly desirable, Choubey said, because the Bihar and Jharkhand governments have failed to provide sufficient support systems to the pilgrims who make a long walk from Bhagalpur to Deoghar, covering around 110km.
He appreciated Union finance minister Arun Jaitley for announcing the creation of five religious/tourist circuits to strengthen a sense of religious identification of pilgrims, devotees and visitors going around the country in these circuits.
Choubey said Ajgaibinath, Babadham, Basukinath, Mandar Hill (Banka), Champanagar and Vikramshila could also be developed and converted into a new religious circuit by the Centre to boost tourism in Bihar and Jharkhand. Choubey said he had raised the issue during zero hour of the Lok Sabha.
Pointing to the irrigational problems faced by the people of Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas and Kaimur districts, Choubey said only the construction of Kadwan reservoir of Sone-Rihand would mitigate it. The construction of the Kadwan reservoir has been due since 1987, he added.
Courtesy: TNN
